Builder of Ships
by Cr00cy
Summary: Just short story about two people that might or might not have some romantic feelings for each other, and one boy who just wants to see the ships sail. No matter how weird they might be. One-shot. Might become a series of one-shots in the future.


The boy sat on his chair, sipping tea from his cup, and letting out content sigh. He looked around, a small smile on his lips, as if he was admiring the room he was in, even though there was not much to admire.

It was big, made out of stone, with very little furniture - just a few chairs surrounding a large, round table, and a large map of the known world on the wall opposite to the only doors. There were no ornaments, no carpets, nothing that would make it look more inviting.

Despite the, twelve armed guards, and the two masked and armed Sanus standing behind him, and one unmasked guard looking intently at him, the boy was remarkably calm. After a few moments of silence, and two more sips, he put his cup on the table and smiled at the woman in front of him.

"Thank you. That was delicious."

Sienna Khan, High Leader of White Fang, just nodded.

"Leave us." she commanded.

The guards hesitated for a moment, but eventually left the room.

"That includes you two too."

The two Faunus standing behind the boy glanced at each other. One of them, a black haired woman shrugged, bowed slightly towards the leader, and marched out of the room. The red haired male remained just a few moments longer, before following his companion.

"I'll cut straight to the point. I know who you are, and I heard you are good at what you do. Maybe not the best, but still good. It's the first time I find myself enlisting the help of… one of your kind, and I heard some conflicting things about how you lot handle assignments. I care only for results, how you approach it is not of interest me. I will provide you with anything you need, within reason. Any questions?"

The boy hummed, before nodding slowly.

"Is there any time limit on this assignment?"

Sienna considered the question for a moment.

"Not really, but I'd prefer to have some results by the end of the month."

"Of course." The boy hummed again, before nodding to himself and smiling at her. "In that case, there are few more details we need to go over. First of all.."

* * *

Adam started at the _boy _sitting behind a large desk, while Blake was giving a report from their last mission. Even now, after four weeks, it still bothered him that they had to report to a human, and one so young. But Sinna's orders were clear - every White Fang operative was to follow his orders to the letter. Of course there were some complaints, but they were quickly shut down.

They boy himself was strange, to say the least. He didn't talk much, but was always polite when he did speak. No one knew his name, when asked Sienna said to refer to him as 'Yes, sir' and 'No sir.' Nobody knew where he came from, or what exactly he was doing.

Overall, not much had changed ever since he appeared, it's just that sometimes White Fang agents reported to him.

Those agents, for some reason, were almost always himself and Blake.

The red haired faunus shifted slightly, observing the enigmatic human. Was he really just a boy? His looks suggested such, as did his usual behavior, but the amount of authority Sienna put into his hands, after just a short meeting suggested there was more to him that meets the eye.

Of course there were plenty of rumors and theories. Some thought he was a human child that Sienna brainwashed and turned into a spy, some other suggested that he was some kind of special agent and his young appearance was just a trick. Some of the wilder ones suggested he might be Sienna's child - or even a lover. The theory that made the most sense was that he was representative of some rich family that silently supported Famous mercenaries, but no one, not even Blake and Adam, knew the truth - and they were the one to bring him to their headquarters. One day, Sienna just told them to go to a specific location, that turned out to be just an empty beach, where they met a person that was to be escorted back to her.

"Thank you." the boy said when Blake finished her report. "Excellent work, as always."

Neither of the two faunus responded, standing still and waiting for future instructions. The last two weeks were very intense, the two of them hardly having time to rest between jobs. Adam focused on a large sheet of paper lying on the boy's desk. It was covered in multiple dark lines, and numbers, a blueprint of

_Is it… a ship?_

One thing he noticed was that strange boy was always working on something. The design changed a few times in the month they worked together, never quite reaching a point when Adam could guess what it was that boy was making.

The red haired faunus tore his eyes away from the designs and focused on the window behind their temporary, he hoped, superior.

"I know you two must be tired after all this work, but there is one more job that needs to be done. It popped up at the last moment, and I can't trust anyone else with it." He said, with an apologetic smile. "But don't worry, this one is very easy. You can even treat is as paid vacation."

Blake and Adam glanced at each other. Paid vacation? Normally they would scoff at that, but after all the work they have done, they figured they deserved it.

"Just tell us what needs to be done."

The blond blinked, surprised. Blake shot her partner strange look.

Adam let out an annoyed sigh. Sure, it was Balke who usually did the talking, but just because at the beginning he might have snapped a few times, and maybe threatened the boy with his sword once or twice, didn't mean he couldn't hold a conversation with him.

"Well, like I said, it's nothing too hard. Technically, you don't have to _do _anything. I just need someone, of proper standing in White Fang, and with certain… renown, to be seen at a certain event. What you do once you get there doesn't really matter, as long as you don't start any trouble."

Blake and Adam shared a quick look and shrugged. A strange job, and the fact that they didn't get any details was slightly worrying, but it wasn't the first time they worked on limited intel. And the boy did say that they only needed to show up.

"All right. When and where is this job?"

The boy smiled and handed them a small piece of paper.

* * *

"I don't like this." Adam said a few days later, his eyes scanning the crowd. Blake just rolled her eyes.

"Don't be so dramatic. He did say we can treat it as a vacation."

"But it's still a job, apparently an important one. What could be so important about a festival held in some small village? It's not like anyone important will show up."

Blake shrugged. Truth to be told, she was wondering about it herself. The boy was strangely sparse on details this time, the only thing he told them to come to this small village, attend the festival they held, and have a good time. He didn't tell them why it was so important they show up here, or why it couldn't be anyone else.

And on top of that, he insisted that they didn't take any weapons with them, their masks, or anything that could identify them as members of the White Fang.

Neither her or Adam were strangers to working undercover, but it didn't make sense to try to infiltrate this village. It was small, far away from any important trade routes, and no one of note lived here. The population was a mix of faunus and humans, and while they might find a few potential recruits here, there were many other villages like this one.

"Just drop it. He said we should just have a good time. And I, for one, intend to do just that."

* * *

Adam hummed, looking over numerous stalls filling town square. He still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off about this job, but there was little he could do about it. But Bake had a point - they were working over time these past two weeks, so they deserved a breather.

Plus, he thought, glancing at his partner, it was chance to see a more casual side of his partner. Don't get him wrong, he respected her as a skilled warrior, but this had to be the first time he'd seen her in dress. He too choose casual clothing, discarding anything that could identify him as one of the White Fang soldiers. Why this little twerp was so insistent about that part, he didn't knew, but it was one of many details that made him worry about this job.

He sighed, looking around again, before he spotted certain sign. Adam's eyes narrowed. Just before they left, the boy dragged Adam to the side and made a few… suggestions.

_Since the two of you don't look like people who frequenting festivals, let me give you a few suggestions. First, visit the local tavern - I was there once, and they serve the best seafood this side of the continent. Trust me, you won't regret it._

Adam shrugged. It was as good a place to start as any, and he was hungry.

"How about we grab something to eat first?" he said aloud, nodding towards the large wooden building. Blake followed his eyes, and shrugged.

"Why not?"

* * *

Adam stared at his partner, an amused smirk on his lips. He knew Blake liked fish, but he never expected her to have this much of an appetite.

"You sure you should be eating that much? You might need new clothes after this."

Blake paused, considered him for a moment, then took a large bite of her tuna sandwich. She chewed at it slowly, with delighted expression on her face.

"I think I'll be fine. You should be eating." she said, eyeing his plate where his portion of grilled herring laid mostly intact. With a chuckle and shake of his head Adam pushed it towards his partner.

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's time!" A jovial voice sounded, followed by the cheers of everyone in the tavern. Adam turned around only to see a middle aged man standing on a wooden platform, presumably where traveling bards performed.

"Our annual culture festival has begun! As per our tradition, we will take a coin from our guests!" The crowd cheered.

"However, this time our dear guests will have to pay in other ways - with a performance!" The crowd cheered even harder. Adam frowed. What did he mean by a performance?

"Dancing! Singing! Poetry! Any form of performance will do! Good or bad, doesn't matter!"

Adam's frown deepened. Will they really force anyone who ordered something to perform? That wasn't possible, right?

He eyed the wooden platform, where the first patrons were two guys who tried to sing some ballad. Tried being the keyword. They were terribly off tune, and completely out of sync, but no one seemed to be bothered by it. Shortly, they were replaced by other people, and Adam realized that the announcer might have been serious about everyone having to perform.

He briefly considered trying to sneak out, but discarded the idea. They'd definitely be spotted, and it was not worth the trouble.

_I'll just sing something, and let Blake do whatever she wants. It can't be that hard._

* * *

Adam walked out of tavern with wooden smile on his face and empty eyes.

_That… that was the most humiliating experience of my life._

"Ha! We showed that blond bimbo!" His partner cheered, a proud smile on her lips. Adam glared at her, but it lacked any heat. He was too busy trying to eradicate the events of the last two hours from his mind.

His plan was perfect. Foolproof. Get on stage. Sing so badly no one would want to you to get back on it. Get out.

Blake had a similar one, but instead of singing, she decided on dancing.

It should have been easy. But then some blond girl showed up, started chatting with Blake, and somehow, managed to insult her favorite book, the author _and_ the pairing in said book in the span of five minutes.

For a moment there, Adam feared Blake would strangle the other girl with her bare hands, but instead it ended up with a fierce fight for first place in this stupid competition. A fight Adam had to first watch, and then, to his terror, participate in when Blake all but dragged him onto the stage.

It might not have been too bad, if not for the fact that Blake started replaying scenes from her favorite books. Near the end, he was really starting to fear how far Blake was willing to go to win this stupid competition.

He sighed again, and shook his head. It was over now.

He took a few more steps before realizing that Blake wasn't following him. He turned around, seeing her frozen in place. He already opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but then he saw it himself.

He never met the girl personally, but the white hair and emblem of a snowflake on her clothes were all the clues he needed.

A Schnee. One of the five noble houses of the Atlas kingdom, and one of the most infamous. It was a well known fact that most citizens of the frozen kingdom, especially nobles, considered faunus nothing more than slightly more intelligent animals - and treated them as such.

Adam grit his teeth, his hand traveling to a sword that wasn't there. Damn it! Schnees and the White Fang had a particularly bad history, being basically at war for a few years now. Any meeting between the two factions was basically guaranteed to end in violence.

The girl in front of them looked young, probably the youngest daughter of the head of the house, Weiss schnee. If she were alone, and he was armed, Adam wouldn't hesitate to attack, and kill or capture her.

But neither he was armed, nor she was alone. He had no idea who the man accompanying her was, but it was safe to assume he was her escort. And even though Adam couldn't see any weapon on him, that didn't mean anything.

Adam made move to run, to hide somewhere, but it was too late. The Schnee spotted them, and was heading in their direction. Damn it all. He exchanged a quick glance with Blake. They needed a plan and fast. Fight or run? Could they even outrun them? How many people did the Schnee have with her? Did they surround the whole village? He spared one more glance at Blake, who were scanning their surroundings, looking for an escape route, or just a place to hide.

If he attacked those two, could he buy her enough time to escape?

Why was she even here? There was a saying that wherever Schnee went, they demanded that no faunus will be allowed within their eyesight. Adam wouldn't have believed it, if he hadn't witnessed a whole city being purged of faunus in preparation for a Schnee visit. But here she was, standing amongst the 'filthy animals' and seemingly not caring.

Adam's mind raced. What could be the reason behind her visit here. Did the boy know about it? Did he set them up? But why?

Damn, whatever they were going to do, they had to do it fast. The Schnee brat was almost upon them, and in a moment she would… pass by them without sparing a single glance.

Both White Fang soldiers just stood there frozen for a few seconds. Then they turned slowly, and looked at each other. How? Even if she was able to ignore regular faunus, there was no way a Schnee wouldn't react to two high ranking White Fang…

Adam's thoughts came to a halt. They were unarmed, and in casual clothing, which meant that unless someone knew their faces, they would appear to be two regular faunus. The flower wreaths they both wore on their necks, their reward for winning that stupid competition, only added to the image.

Suddenly everything made sense. The boy insisted they go unarmed and in casual clothing to not be identified as White Fang soldiers, to not cause trouble. He didn't give them any details, because he wanted them to witness something without any expectation, an unbiased opinion. And he needed someone trustworthy, someone with high enough standing in the White Fang that even if they reported something crazy, it would be taken seriously.

But just seeing a Schnee here wasn't that important. They needed to look deeper into it. Adam turned to his partner to share his thoughts, but she was already dragging him in the direction the Schnee disappeared. They spotted her easily enough, her white hair easily recognizable.

* * *

The next few hours passed by in a blur. They visited stalls, they played stupid festival games, they ate over priced food - all to keep close to white-haired girl and not look suspicious. Eventually they found themselves leaning on the fence surrounding the village, observing several pairs dancing around a great bonfire.

Blake let out a soft humm, considering the events of the night. It was strangely peaceful, all things considered. The Schnee girl didn't seem to be up to anything - it really looked like she visited just to have some fun with her partner.

And they certainly had.

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, reliving a few of the events she and Adam had to take apart in just to stay close to white haired girl. Well, it was all just a job, there was no point in reading into it. They even managed to learn a few interesting things by eavesdropping on the other pair. Now, with festival nearing its end, it looked like their job was finished too. The Schnee girl and her partner were currently dancing, and Blake doubted there was anything more they could learn from them. She let out a quiet sigh. It was probably for the best if they leave. She was already opening her mouth to suggest it to her partner, before letting surprised yelp when Adam grabbed her hand and started dragging her towards the bonfire.

She looked at him, surprised. His eyes were locked on the fire, or maybe the dancing pairs. For a moment she thought he might have seen something suspicious about the Schnee girl, but he wasn't even looking her way.

"Adam, what are you doing?"

He shrugged.

"We were told to have some fun, and since we spent most of the festival tailing the Schnee girl, I think we deserve something for all the trouble."

She raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk forming on her lips.

"I didn't know you liked dancing."

Adam shrugged again.

"Me neither, but you gotta try new things from time to time. Otherwise life gets boring." He turned to her fully, his eyes locked on hers, her hand still held firmly in his. "Unless you don't want to. I'm not gonna force you."

Blake looked at him for a few moments, then just nodded. They walked up towards dancing pairs, her wrapping her arms around his neck, him placing his hands on her waist. It was awkward at first, both of them unused to dancing, but they were both warriors.

They both had good footwork.

Slowly, they got used to motions, and started to speed may have bumped into other pairs a few times, but neither of them cared, both focused on each other. Blake started into Adam's eyes, who bore into hers with intensity she'd never seen before.

What did he see in them?

They'd known each other for what felt like forever. They grew up together, they joined the White Fang together. They trained, fought and bled together. They shared the joy of victories, and sorrows of defeat. He saved her life multiple times, as she did his. They understood each other without words. But, up until recently, they never spent too much time together outside of missions.

When they had free time, Blake preferred to read good books, while Adam just went out to grab a few drinks, or train. But recently, it felt as if something changed. She wasn't sure what, or why, but there was this tension between them. It didn't get in the way of any of the jobs they were sent on, quite the opposite, it felt as if they worked together better than ever. It was the time after their missions that felt strange. They would sometimes pause, just standing next to each other, or pretending that they were doing their own thing while stealing glances at each other.

It was as if they were both waiting for the other to say, or do something. But what? She didn't know.

But as Adam slowly lifted his hand, and moved a stray lock of hair away from her face, she thought she might have finally figured it out. He looked her in the eyes, his fingers slowly moving through her hair. His face hardened, a look of determination she saw so often during hard fights returning, but his eyes were somehow softer.

And then someone bumped into them, and whatever spell had fallen upon them disappeared, leaving just cold reality. Blake looked around, surprised. The bonfire had burned out almost completely, and there were only a few people left standing around, gazing at the dying flames. The Schnee girl was nowhere to be found, but she didn't care.

Blake looked back to Adam, who took a step back, not quite meeting her eyes.

"I think we should be leaving."

Blake just hummed in agreement. She cast one last glance at the bonfire, and village, before turning round and following her partner. There was no point trying to figure out what this strange feeling was - it would be gone in the morning. She had fun, that was true, but it was just another job. They needed to get back, catch some sleep, and prepare reports for the higher ups.

And if neither felt the need to let go of the other's hand until they reached their rooms?

Well, that was just them keeping their cover until the very end.

* * *

The boy watched the two faunus disappear into the night, a smile on his lips. He stretched, eliciting a few satisfying poops from his joints.

"You think that will be enough?" his companion asked.

The boy just smiled.

"Who knows? This ship has left port. Will it stay afloat? Or will it sink? That's a question only time has answer for."

Sienna hummed, before handing him a large purse.

"Here. your payment."

The boy accepted it with thanks.

"But I have to ask. Why are you doing this?"

He turned to her, an amused smirk on his lips.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said, walking into the night. "It's because I'm builder of ships. What else would I be doing?"

* * *

**My brain: Hey, I have this idea...**

**Me: Brain, no. I need to work on P.A.**

**My brain: How about we write a Adam x Blake one-shot?**

**Me: Brain, stop this.**

**My brain: And this no-name boy OC from JJD's ship omakes? You know, the ones at the end of Monster Marriage? We could include him too!**

**Me: Now that's just plain stupid. I'm not doing it.**

**Also Me, about two days later: *sends draft of this to JJD* What have I done…"**

**So yeah, somehow, some way, this idea popped into my head and refused to leave. As a result, this... thing now exist. **

**I personaly blame JJD, and his stupid good omakes that give me weird ideas.**

**So yeah, this is a one-shot, slightly AU. Might become a series of one-shots, where I try to write different pairings. Even if this happens, don't expect regular updates on this one.**

**JJD: *rubs hands together* Yes, yes. Good! The strangeness is spreading!**


End file.
